Mother's Day Thoughts

Published 4:51 pm, Thursday, May 5, 2011

I, along with millions of others, love my mother. I value her friendship, wisdom, sacrifice and support. I learned to appreciate her even more after I became a mother. Mothering is a lifetime commitment that certainly deserves recognition.

However, rather than flowers, perfumes and Sunday buffets, I believe the best way to honor mothers would be to observe - and practice - the petitions of the original American Mother’s Day. In the early 1870s, Julia Ward Howe began promoting the idea of a Mother’s Day of Peace. After seeing the devastation of the Civil War, she called on women to join together for peace, to eliminate the sending of their sons to war and to death. Part of her initial proclamation reads, “Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience. We women of one country will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

Julia’s efforts were picked up in the early 1900s by Anna Reeve Jarvis, and her daughter Anna M. Jarvis who was instrumental in getting Mother’s Day established as a national holiday in 1914. Anna fought the commercialization of the holiday, which began quickly and continues to this day.

So, to my mom, my mom-in-law, the mother of my granddaughter and to all the mothers out there - I salute your time and talent in mothering and I pledge to promote peace at every turn in my life - at home, at work, at play, in myself and my community. And one day, all our sons AND our daughters will live in a world of harmony.

Kim Palka is a naturopathic doctor in private practice at WellSpring Naturopathic Health Services and Studio. She promotes health with education and natural therapeutics. The Studio offers a variety of yoga and wellness classes. www.wellspringnaturopathic.com